Used by 6,000+ students
Anki for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2
Every missed question, turned into a card you'll see again. Upload notes from your UWorld or AMBOSS blocks and get Anki cards in a minute.
Free to start · Quote and page on every card
How it works
- UploadSlides, notes, PDFs or YouTube.
- CheckEvery card shows its quote and page.
- DownloadOne file that opens in Anki.
- Lecture notes or a textbook chapter as a PDF? PDF to Anki converter
- Got lecture slides? PowerPoint to Anki converter
Every card shows where it came from
A card is only kept if its quote is really in your file.
From the sourcep. 27
Confirmation of the diagnosis is based on laboratory testing, but antibiotic therapy should not be delayed in a patient with a suggestive clinical presentation.
The card · USMLE Basic
Should antibiotic therapy be delayed until laboratory confirmation of RMSF?
No — antibiotics should not be delayed with a suggestive clinical presentation.
Quote found in the source
Made for the USMLE
UWorld & AMBOSS notesScreenshots of your notesReview PDFsLecture slides
Cards from your incorrects
Messy notes are fine. "Picked B, it's A because…" becomes a clean question with the reason on the back.
Next-step questions
When your notes say what to do next, the cards ask about that decision too, not only the name of the disease.
Cloze for labs and criteria
Lab patterns, time windows and criteria become cloze cards, one blank at a time.
Quote and page to check
Every card shows the line it came from. A card whose quote isn't in your text is dropped before you see it.
Built for board prep
Question banks find your gaps. AnkiDecks turns them into cards you'll see again before test day.
Your UWorld and AMBOSS incorrects
After each block, jot down what you missed and why: in Notion, a doc or on paper. Upload it as text, a PDF, a screenshot or a photo. AnkiDecks finds the fact behind each miss and writes a few small cards, so your weak spots keep coming back until they stick.
Next to AnKing
Keep AnKing as your base. Your own cards cover what it doesn't, in the words you'll remember. Every card arrives tagged AnkiDecks, so one search finds, checks or suspends them.
Step 2 CK: the next step
Step 2 asks "what do you do now?". Write a miss as the situation, then the step, and your cards ask the same question the exam does. Give them their own deck and new-card limit.
Dedicated without the pile-up
Turn on FSRS, keep retention at 90% and pick a new-card number you could keep on your worst day. Check what it costs in reviews before you commit.
Example USMLE Anki cards
- Cloze
E. chaffeensis most commonly infects monocytesc1, whereas E. ewingii more commonly infects granulocytesc2.
E. chaffeensis most commonly infects monocytes, whereas E. ewingii more commonly infects granulocytes.p. 23
- Cloze
Babesiosis is a disease caused by parasites that infect red blood cellsc1.
Babesiosis is a disease caused by parasites that infect red blood cells.p. 36
- Basic
Which laboratory findings are consistent with hemolysis in babesiosis?
Decreased haptoglobin, elevated LDH, reticulocytosis
Hemolytic anemia with decreased haptoglobin, elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values, and reticulocytosisp. 37
- Make cards from your own file
Example cards made by AnkiDecks from CDC’s “Tickborne Diseases of the United States: A Reference Manual for Healthcare Providers” (6th ed., 2022), public domain and free on the CDC website. CDC doesn't endorse AnkiDecks. Open the source
How to use Anki for Step 1 and Step 2
Short answers to what students ask before dedicated.
When to start
Earlier is easier. Cards you add months before the exam cost a few reviews a day by dedicated. Cards you add in the last week are still new on test day.
Questions first, cards second
Do the block, read every explanation, then make cards only for what you missed or guessed. Cards for what you already know are reviews you don't need.
Step 1 is pass/fail
Step 1 has been pass/fail since January 2022; Step 2 CK is still scored. Plan your deck for both: Step 1 mechanisms are what Step 2 management questions are built on.
One fact per card
A vignette is a story; a card is one fact. Split "X causes Y and is treated with Z" into one card for the cause and one for the treatment.
When reviews pile up
Stop new cards until your daily reviews are back to an amount you can finish, as Anki's manual recommends. Don't reset the deck, and don't drop question blocks to catch up.
Free to start. Pro when you study every day.
Free is enough to try it on a few lectures. Pro covers one or two classes every week, Max every class.
Pro
For one or two classes$7.99/ month
or $54.99 a year (5 months free)
- 50 decks a month
- Up to 100 pages per file
- 300 image occlusion diagrams a month
- Your decks are made first when it's busy
Cancel anytime
Big textbooks or every class? Max takes files up to 200 pages and unlimited decks. Compare plans · Export to Anki is never paywalled.
Questions
Should I use AnKing or make my own cards for Step 1?
Both. AnKing gives you a broad, well-made base. Your own cards cover the facts your question bank shows you keep missing, in your own words. Check AnKing first, and make a card only when the fact isn't there or you need it framed differently.
How many new cards a day in dedicated?
There's no single right number. Pick one you could keep on your hardest day, and stop new cards in the final week if reviews get heavy. The review calculator shows how many reviews a day a number costs before you commit to it.
Can I upload screenshots?
Yes. A screenshot or photo of your notes works like a PDF: we read the text and make the cards. Use your own notes on what you missed rather than the question bank's text: that content is theirs, and your one-line takeaway makes a sharper card anyway.
Does it work for Step 2 CK?
Yes. Step 2 CK is mostly diagnosis and management, so write your notes as the situation and then the next step. The cards then ask what you'd do, which is what the exam asks.
What if a card is wrong?
Each card shows the exact quote and page it came from, and a card is only kept if that quote is really in your file. You can still edit, redo or delete any card on the Review screen before you download.
Does it work with Anki on my phone?
Yes. You download a normal .apkg deck. It opens in Anki on a computer, AnkiMobile and AnkiDroid, with no add-ons. Image occlusion cards need Anki 23.10 or newer.
Is it free?
Yes. Free makes 3 decks a month from files up to 15 pages. Pro ($7.99 a month) makes 50 decks a month from files up to 100 pages. Downloading to Anki is never paywalled.
USMLE is a program of the FSMB and NBME. UWorld, AMBOSS and AnKing are named only to describe how students study. AnkiDecks isn't affiliated with any of them.
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Today's incorrects, ready to review
Upload your notes from today's block and get the cards in a minute, each with the line it came from.
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